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Should I buy Mac Mini Now?

J

Jazper

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 16, 2012
643
34
Hey,

I've found a great deal, I can get a Mac Mini, 2.5Ghz for £575 and upgrade the ram for £40, now that's pretty much my budget so shall I go ahead and buy it now or wait for the new ones? I know they will be more expensive but then I might have a little bit more cash.

I mainly use it for light photoshop, general browsing web, microsoft office, itunes, some gaming - Diablo 3 and Minecraft...

That should be fine, right? Also planning to upgrade HD to SDD in future.
 
I'm debating getting a 2011 Mini right now as well. But I'm crazily thinking of replacing my 2009 Mac Pro w/ a Mini for my web development work and building a separate PC for gaming.

For years I've done everything off the one system, but the lack of upgraded Mac Pro compatible video cards in this latest 'refresh' has kind of put me thinking a different direction for my computing needs.

My thoughts are as long as you get the Mini w/ with the AMD Radeon HD 6630M in it, you should be perfectly fine! And when you toss an SSD in there, it should be a mini-beast of a machine!
 
Are you the kind of person who will be annoyed if a refresh comes through in a month?
 
I doubt I'll be able to to afford a refresh, saying I'm getting it for £575 compared to what Apple are selling it at £699! And I've had my old iMac 2006 since... so I think I'll be fine ;P
 
Jazper said:
I doubt I'll be able to to afford a refresh, saying I'm getting it for £575 compared to what Apple are selling it at £699! And I've had my old iMac 2006 since... so I think I'll be fine ;P
Click to expand...

If thats all you can afford I say go for it, its a really nice machine.
 
If you are sure that's all you can afford then go for it. If there is a slight chance you can save a bit more, then wait. The new components are already out, so it's just a matter of putting them into the mini.
I for one, am waiting for the refresh and I'll purchase my new server straight away ;)
 
If you need it buy now, I guess with technology there's always something newer/better/cooler/faster around the corner.

It's up to you though, would you regret it if the new model came out soon?
 
I would consider the Mini a safe buy at almost any time (i.e. don't buy it when it looks like you're a week or two out from a refresh but other than that...) because it loses the least value on a refresh. You can always rebuy an updated model and you only take a modest haircut if you resell the one you have afterward. I think of it as paying a rental fee.
 
I would definitely wait!! You're so close mate. I would get insane buyers remorse if I bought one now. Use the next month to same your pennies and get the new one!
 
I actually found one with 8GB of Ram and 120GB SSD pre-installed for £100 extra, I think I might swing for that... I have 2x 500gb external HD's and an old 160gb HD that I might put in a dock or enclosure...

How does that sound? :)
 
Confused. wait for what? ALL the hardware announcements came out last week. no mention of Mini.
 
gigaguy said:
Confused. wait for what? ALL the hardware announcements came out last week. no mention of Mini.
Click to expand...
Yeah guys, Apple are done for the year ;)

It makes no sense to release everything at once and dilute the retina MBP hype. iMacs and minis will likely be updated on the site one day, just like the 2010 mini was.
 
Jazper said:
I actually found one with 8GB of Ram and 120GB SSD pre-installed for £100 extra, I think I might swing for that... I have 2x 500gb external HD's and an old 160gb HD that I might put in a dock or enclosure...

How does that sound? :)
Click to expand...

Actually that's a great deal, if you just ignore the whole refresh equation and look at what you're getting for your dollar, that seems worth it.
 
I hate how Apple is transitioning to no optical drives because they view it as obsolete! I love ripping dvd's and converting them. Maybe I'm a minority...

Anyway, if that is in your budget and you think that specific computer will last you for a minimum of 3-5 years based on your needs, go for it.
 
Davy.Shalom said:
I hate how Apple is transitioning to no optical drives because they view it as obsolete! I love ripping dvd's and converting them. Maybe I'm a minority...

Anyway, if that is in your budget and you think that specific computer will last you for a minimum of 3-5 years based on your needs, go for it.
Click to expand...

I think majority of users doesnt use media discs anymore, they use at majority cases USB and now Thunderbolt. Why you dont use a external optical drive?
 
gigaguy said:
Confused. wait for what? ALL the hardware announcements came out last week. no mention of Mini.
Click to expand...

Apple does not release all hardware at once. This has been shown before. MacMini will be released later this year. ;)
 
I would say save your money and wait for the new hardware announcement. Don't give in to the temptation and throw your hard earned money to a year old hardware. RAM is cheap you can get 8GB for like £25-30.
And once the new mac mini released old one's prices go down a bit as well. if you can;t afford or dont like the choices you can always buy the old ones.

I'm on the market for new Mac(mini) as well, so I know the feeling. Don't give in and wait it up. Plus you will get free OSX 10.8 ML :p
 
I'm thinking about just buying a new Macbook Pro 13", my budget went up and I like the portability :p
 
Davy.Shalom said:
I hate how Apple is transitioning to no optical drives because they view it as obsolete! I love ripping dvd's and converting them. Maybe I'm a minority...

Anyway, if that is in your budget and you think that specific computer will last you for a minimum of 3-5 years based on your needs, go for it.
Click to expand...

Buy an external Blu-Ray drive. The Mac Mini is basically useless as an HTPC without Blu-Ray anyway.
 
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